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Call Her Resistible:
Trial Paints Stewart
As Curt, 'Irascible'

Personality That Witnesses
Reveal May Help or Hurt
Jury's View of Defendant

By

Kara Scannell and

Matthew RoseStaff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Updated Feb. 13, 2004 12:01 a.m. ET

NEW YORK -- If the Martha Stewart trial was a popularity contest, she would probably lose.

She has roared like a lion underwater, cut an interview with investigators short by telling them she "has a business to run" and been described by her own stock broker as "irascible," testimony has shown.

Ms. Stewart's obstruction of justice and securities-fraud trial, now in its third week, has provided vivid insights into Ms. Stewart's volatile behavior. And the anecdotes, mostly from government witnesses, could go a long way in determining whether the jury likes her and ultimately believes her version of events. A spokesman for Ms. Stewart declined to comment.

Even lawyers for Ms. Stewart and her co-defendant, former
Merrill Lynch
& Co. broker Peter Bacanovic, have sought to use her personality to their advantage. The lawyers have introduced into evidence unflattering e-mails to show that the government's star witness, former brokerage assistant Douglas Faneuil, didn't like the way Ms. Stewart treated him and was looking for a way to get back at her.

In one e-mail, Mr. Faneuil told a friend, "Martha yelled at me again today." In another, he wrote: "I have never, ever been treated more rudely by a stranger on the telephone."

This week, the jury heard a recording of Mr. Bacanovic himself telling investigators that he had to alert Ms. Stewart to sell her ImClone shares because they had struck an agreement to sell if the price fell to $60 just seven days earlier. "I just had this conversation," he said in the recording, which was played in the courtroom. "This is someone who gets irascible."

Some testimony has suggested a softer side to Ms. Stewart, 62 years old. Ann Armstrong, Ms. Stewart's assistant for six years, burst into tears when describing how she thanked Ms. Stewart for the plum pudding she had sent for Christmas.